California veterans and members of the U.S. Armed Forces are one signature away
from having mandated access to health screenings to determine their exposure to
depleted uranium.

SB 1720, the Veterans’ Health and Safety Act of 2006, passed with the unanimous
approval of the state Senate on Wednesday and is headed to Gov. Arnold
Schwarzenegger’s desk. The bill, which establishes outreach programs as well as
screening tests for veterans, was introduced by state Sen. Wes Chesbro
(D-Arcata) in February of this year. It passed the state Assembly with a 61-13
vote on Tuesday.

“We feel it’s going to be a great benefit to the many veterans who have been
unknowingly exposed,” local Veterans for Peace member Steve Sottong said
Thursday. “We’re extremely pleased and very hopeful that the governor will sign
it.”

“We’re very excited, because people up here in the far north started this bill,”
VFP member Fred Hummel added. “And it’s great to know that we have
representatives up here who will go to bat for us.”

Chesbro worked closely with the VFP Humboldt Bay Chapter 56 in developing the
bill, Hummel observed.

The effort has gained national attention and support from other veterans’
groups, including the American Legion and Vietnam Veterans of America.

Recognizing the Armed Forces’ extensive use of depleted uranium in both
munitions and armor since the first Gulf War and the health risks associated
with it — including lung and kidney damage, cancer and genetic mutations — the
bill extends screenings to all service members who were in an area where
depleted uranium was known to be used or that was designated as a combat zone by
the U.S. president after 1990.

The purpose, it states, “is to safeguard the health of California’s veterans by
assisting them in obtaining federal treatment services, including best practice
health screening tests capable of detecting low levels of depleted uranium.”

An outreach effort will be implemented through the California Department of
Veterans Affairs and will include information on veterans’ possible exposure to
depleted uranium, the associated health risks and available federal screening
services.

“These people have served their country, they’ve served well, and they deserve
better than to be left without better health notification to what they’ve been
exposed to,” Sottong said.

If the bill becomes law, Hummel said, VFP’s next move will be to work with the
Department of Veterans Affairs to ensure that the mandated outreach efforts are
effective and meaningful.

The original text of the bill had a provision for an annual report to
legislative committees on the efficacy of the military’s pre- and
post-deployment training on depleted uranium exposure, but that clause was
removed from the final version.

Sottong observed that removing the clause and other minor revisions that
minimized the cost associated with the bill made it likely that Schwarzenegger
would sign it.

“It seems to be a bill that pretty much everybody can get behind,” Sottong
noted. “We hope California can become a model for other states on this.”